A Deadly Craft by Sydney Abrams is a Spring Into Books Festival pick #cozymystery #mystery #mustread #giveaway
- N. N. Light
- 6 hours ago
- 7 min read
Title:
A Deadly Craft
Author:
Sydney Abrams
Genre:
Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb:
Alex and her artist friends from the Creative Workshop are in high spirits for the annual winter arts and crafts festival. However, the festival’s cheer could be masking a dark conspiracy. An unidentified hit-and-run victim is found dead in a snowbank, followed by the shocking murder of one of their own. When a member of her staff is framed for the crime, Alex must dive headlong into a labyrinth of clues and artfully piece together the connection between the two cases. But it will take some creative thinking to survive a deadly game of cat and mouse when Alex and her young assistant, Maggie, are stalked by the killer.
Excerpt:
Annie held her phone out to me. “It’s Jack. He says he wants to talk to you.”
I gave her a questioning look, but took her phone and said, “Hey, Jack, where are you? I thought you were going to meet us here?”
“I just tried to call you,” he said impatiently.
“Sorry, I finally felt like I didn’t need to be tethered to my phone, and it’s buried in my bag. What’s up?”
“I won’t be making it over there tonight. We just found a body.”
What? He couldn’t have said what I thought he just said. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“Travis took a call from Ben Perkins. He was out walking his dog on the service road past the junction. The dog went nose-to-ground and found a dead body.”
I felt like the wind was just knocked out of my sails. There was a whoop of laughter at the table, so I got up from my chair and walked to the edge of the lounge where it was quieter and I could talk in a normal voice.
“Oh my gosh. Who is it? What happened?”
“Don’t know, and don’t know. I just wanted to check with you and make sure all your festival people are accounted for. I know everyone at the Workshop, so I’m meaning the folks from out of town who I wouldn’t know. The victim is a male.”
“Oh, let me think. Some did go back home for the night, so I’ll touch base with them all. If I can’t reach anyone, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay, I gotta run. Hand me back to Annie. I want to let her know I won’t be home for a while.”
I walked back toward the group and motioned to Annie. When she approached, I handed her the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
She listened for a few moments, looked at me, then said, “All right. I’ll see you at home later.” She swiped the phone to disconnect the call. “How horrible,” she said, with concern in her voice. “I sure hope it’s not someone we know.”
“Me too.”
“Why did he want to talk to you?”
I grabbed my phone out of my bag. “I need to text those who left town for the night and make sure everyone is accounted for. I’m already worrying, so I hope I reach everyone quickly.”
“Do you want to come back to the house with me when we’re done here and hang out till Jack gets home? He might have something to tell us by then.”
“Sure. I’ll pick up Baxter and we’ll meet you there,” I said.
I walked back to the edge of the lounge to text the out-of-towners, and anyone else I could think of. I stared at my phone, willing it to ding with texts confirming everyone was safe and sound, and my mind whirred trying to think if I had missed anyone. Most of the locals were here, so who else? And who would be out walking on a remote road without identification?
Over the next hour, one by one I received texts confirming all were accounted for, and I let Jack know the festival people were all safe and sound. With my mind free of worry, I picked up Baxter and we headed to Jack and Annie’s.
Their house was a short five-minute drive from the Workshop. I knocked as I opened the front door, then walked through the living room to the open kitchen and den, where Annie already had a fire going.
“Hey, grab a seat, and I’ll be right in.”
I parked myself on the deep cushioned love seat, and Baxter plunked himself down in front of the fire.
“Any word from Jack?”
“Not yet.” She joined me, putting two steaming mugs of spiced tea on the coffee table. “Have you been doing much work for him lately? I wonder if he’ll need the extra set of hands for this.”
“I haven’t since the fall,” I replied. “And I tell you, I would have lost my mind if another death was connected to us in some way.”
“Me, too.”
This past fall there had been a murder during the artist retreat at the Workshop, and it was only in the last couple of months that we had all gotten past the ordeal.
Since moving to Flat Rock, I occasionally helped Jack by doing research or data collection. He had a tiny police force, and sometimes they got spread pretty thin. Jack called it tapping into my old skills. Depending on the situation, it actually meant I was a temp secretary, a research consultant, or sometimes just a come-along- and-be-a-sounding-board buddy.
Essentially, once he cleared me through official channels, I was the unpaid help. My previous job involved wearing many hats, and now I was able to use parts of my brain at risk of becoming dormant, so I kind of liked helping out now and then.
During the investigation in the fall, I hadn’t admitted it to Jack—or anyone—but while the whole thing was dreadful, I’d actually found the investigative aspect intriguing. I guess it was a family thing, since both our dads had been in law enforcement.
We heard the garage door open, and a moment later, Jack came in through the kitchen.
“Hi, honey,” Annie called out. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving,” he growled but then leaned down to give Annie a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll just make a quick sandwich.”
“You sit down, I’ll do it,” she said, unfolding herself from the couch. Jack gratefully nodded and sank into the recliner, letting out a deep sigh.
“So, what’s the word?” I asked.
“Here’s what we know so far. Fairly well-dressed male, probably early forties, no ID. Like I told you, he was found on the side of the access road. He was partially covered by the snowbank.”
“I hate to say it, but it’s a relief it’s not someone we know. How did he die? Exposure?” I asked.
“The medical examiner will have to take a closer look, but it was probably a case of hit-and-run. Now, whether he died on impact or, later, from a combination of his injuries and exposure, we don’t know yet. And the temperature will make determining the time of death a little difficult.”
“I wonder where he was walking to, or from?” I mused.
“That’s a good question. You know the area; around the junction there are a couple of fast-food joints, the gas station and truck stop, and three motels, with a few homes farther down the access road. Besides the main intersection, it’s not heavily traveled. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone will report him missing. Then we can start to put a timeline together.”
Annie brought Jack a plate with a sandwich, a mound of chips, and a tall glass of beer, and I decided this was a good time to leave so they could have some peace and quiet.
“Come on, Baxter, let’s go,” I called out, waking him from his doggy nap. “See ya tomorrow, Annie. And Jack, I hope you get some rest tonight. Please let me know when you find out who he is.”
“Will do,” he said, through a mouthful of turkey sandwich.
Baxter and I hustled out to the car, and there was barely time to get the heat going before we were back at the Workshop. We wasted no time getting inside and up to the apartment, where I made quick work of getting snug in bed under the quilt, with an additional layer of an electric blanket tonight. I couldn’t help but think about the poor soul whose life had come to an end in a snow drift, and my imagination created the tragic image when I closed my eyes.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-deadly-craft-sydney-abrams/1146943603?ean=9781509260300
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-deadly-craft-an-arts-and-crafts-mystery-book-2-by-sydney-abrams
What’s your favorite thing about springtime?
I’m a big fan of the winter, but I have to say, when the trees become peppered with their tiny green leaves, I do feel an extra spring in my step. The smell of the earth, new grass, and the first bloom of flowers—it’s a special time of year. It represents longer days and a slower pace, which means it feel like there’s more time to read!
Why is your featured book a must-read this spring?
It’s a great opportunity to reconnect with, or meet, the gang at the Creative Workshop, and get your creative juices flowing. Spring is the perfect time to meander around arts and crafts festivals, soaking up the creativity and perhaps sparking your own inspiration to start an art or craft project at home during these longer spring days.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs April 1 – 30, 2025
Drawing will be held on May 1, 2025.
Author Biography:
Sydney Abrams’ arts and crafts cozy mystery series is steeped in a life’s experience in the arts coupled with a love for mystery books. She was immersed in both these worlds from childhood, and that influence stayed with her as an adult. Sydney has created artwork for auctions and commissions, and has been part of an art group of professional and amateur artists for twenty years. Literature and the arts go hand in hand, but these worlds collided when Sydney realized that her art group offered up the perfect cast of characters for a cozy mystery.
Sydney currently lives in Stowe, VT with her husband and their big scruffy dog, Charlie.
To learn more about Sydney or to check out ideas for art projects, please visit https://www.sydneyabrams.com/
A Deadly Craft is available for pre-order and it releases April 28th.
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